The Board of Trustees of the Americana Foundation welcomed three new members at its recent meeting in August: Denene De Quintal, Liz Kirkwood, and Kathryn Underwood. All three bring substantive expertise and a deep commitment to Americana’s program work and will help to guide the Foundation’s strategy in the coming years. Americana’s Board looks forward to the perspectives the new trustees will bring to the work of the Foundation.
Denene De Quintal is Assistant Curator for Native American art at Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA). Denene’s focus is on reengaging the Native American, Indigenous, and Detroit communities with the Indigenous Americas art collection, addressing concerns arising from the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), and enacting best practices for the display of Native American art. She created a Native American Advisory Council that assists the museum with initiatives important to the Native American community and is augmenting the Native American art collection by purchasing works by prominent contemporary artists. In 2022 and 2023, Denene led the development of the traveling exhibition, Vitality and Continuity: Art in the Experiences of Anishinaabe, Inuit, and Pueblo Women, which celebrated some of the critical roles Anishinaabe, Inuit, and Pueblo women fulfill in their families, their communities, the art world, and beyond. She is currently planning the reinstallation of the Indigenous Americas galleries at the DIA in collaboration with multiple Indigenous communities and other DIA team members. Denene is from the Bronx and enjoys cooking family recipes.
Liz Kirkwood is Executive Director of For Love of Water (FLOW). Liz is an environmental lawyer and advocate with nearly 25 years of experience working on water, sanitation, energy, and environmental governance both nationally and internationally. Her leadership as executive director of FLOW since 2012 has provided a deep foundation and understanding of key Great Lakes environmental policies designed to promote healthy ecosystems, thriving communities, and access to safe, clean, affordable water for all. Liz also serves as a member of the International Joint Commission’s Water Quality Board.
Kathryn Lynch Underwood is a retired urban planner from the City of Detroit City Planning Commission. She worked as a planner for over 30 years and has experience developing zoning codes, comprehensive plan policies, models of community engagement, and policies related to the environment, sustainability, and urban food systems. Kathryn devised Detroit’s urban agriculture ordinance, spearheaded the work around urban livestock policy, and has been in the forefront of community-led activism. She helped create the Detroit Food Security Policy and was a founding member of numerous organizations focused on urban food systems, including the Detroit Agriculture Network, the Detroit Food Policy Council, Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice, and the Detroit Black Community Food Sovereignty Network. Kathryn has served on a variety of governing and advisory boards related to urban food systems, including the National Board of Slow Food USA and as a US International Councilor to Slow Food International.
Americana’s Board of Trustees is the Foundation’s governing body and is responsible for fulfilling key fiduciary responsibilities, approving the mission, annual budget, strategic goals, and objectives of the organization, and advising the President/CEO, who is responsible for the management of the organization.